Flight period: There is only one generation of this butterfly each year; adults begin to emerge in July, and populations peak in early August with only a few adults remaining by the end of the month.

21/7/12-Gatekeeper – Pyronia tithonus (male)

Habitat

Found where tall grasses grow close to hedges, trees or scrub. Typical habitats are along hedgerows and in woodland rides but the butterfly also occurs in habitats such as undercliffs and on heathland and downland where there are patches of scrub.

The name

The Gatekeeper is also known by the name Hedge Brown, and at various stages in history has also been called the Small Meadow Brown and Hedge Eye. As suggested by its alternate name, Hedge Brown, the Gatekeeper butterfly favours the habitat of meadow margins and hedges. The butterflies frequently occurred near the open spaces around gates placed in hedges to give access to fields, and as they have the habit of flying up when disturbed it would appear that they were ‘gate-keeping’, such as men were employed to do at toll gates and at the entrances to country estates in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Description

21/7/13-First sighting of a Gatekeeper this year-Little Orme

Orange and brown, with black eyespot on forewing tip, eyespots have two white pupils. Males are noticeably smaller than females and have a dark brown patch of scent-producing (androconal) scales on the forewing, used to attract females during courtship. The colour and patterning of the wings are variable.

22/7/11 – Gatekeeper underside (female)

Lifecycle

The first adults emerge in July and lay their eggs singly on grasses beneath bramble, hawthorn and blackthorn bushes where the grass stems grow tall and are not grazed by animals. They hatch after about 14 days and the larvae feed at night on various species of grass, with a preference for fine grasses such as bents, fescues, and meadow-grasses. Common Couch is also used. The full range of other species used is not known. They hibernate during September while they are quite small and re-awaken in March and April feeding slowly and reach maturity by late May – early June.

17/8/11 – Gatekeeper (female)- Rhos–on-Sea garden

Adult behaviour

This butterfly spends much of its time basking with wings open, when the sexes are easy to tell apart – only the male has the distinctive sex brands on the forewings. Males set up small territories, often based on a particular shrub or bush, and readily fly up from their perch to investigate passing butterflies regardless of their species, in the hope of finding a mate.

Distribution: The Gatekeeper is a common and widespread butterfly in England and Wales; found south of a line between Westmorland and South-east Yorkshire in the east. In Ireland it is confined to coastal areas of the south and south-east counties. The butterfly is also found in the Channel Islands, but is absent from Scotland and the Isle of Man.

Similar species

Meadow Brown on bramble flowers-Little Orme

Meadow Brown; the two species may be difficult to distinguish with closed wings as the underwing markings are similar. However, the Gatekeeper tends to rest with its wings open, whereas the Meadow Brown usually rests with its wings closed. The Gatekeeper is also smaller and more orange than the Meadow Brown and has double pupils on its eyespots.

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8 thoughts on “The Gatekeeper”

Hi Finn, thanks for the comments. It’s beginning to seem that butterfly presences have varied considerably in different parts of the country this summer – in our N Wales locality most were late appearing, not much till into July, but then the first ones I saw were Small Tortoiseshells and I’ve seen more of them than in previous years. I’ve seen more Meadow Browns than I’ve ever seen before, also Ringlets, Small Heaths, Small Skippers & of course Gatekeepers in good numbers. As with you Blues have been scarce, saw just one Orange Tip, no Brimstone and very few Green-veined Whites.

In Bristol at the moment and have seen plenty of Whites, a few Gatekeepers, Red Admiral and a Peacock, but weather has been a bit erratic and maybe I don’t know where to look here. Sounds like the Isle of Wight was a tonic – looking forward to your accounts of it!

Hello Theresa, following up on the last comment, here in Cambridgeshire numbers of most species which I normally see are down, including green veined white, gatekeeper, holly blue, orange tip, small tortoiseshell, red admiral, common blue and speckled wood. The only species I’m seeing in anything like normal numbers are the large and small white and the peacock.

But I just got back from the Isle of Wight and butterfly numbers there seemed to be close to ‘normal’. But still I didn’t see a single small tortoiseshell, they seem to have been hit hard by the mad weather. Are you seeing those in your neck of the woods?

Lovely gatekeeper pictures in your post. On the IoW I walked along the the edge of the radar station at the top of Luccombe Down and along a several hundred metre stretch of thistle rich margin were more gatekeepers than I’ve ever seen. Too many to count but it would have been in the hundreds!

Reading other people’s blogs from different areas of the country it seems as though there are big variances in butterfly numbers and species appearances this year. In North Wales we seem to have been very fortunate with good numbers of some species – haven’t seen many blues though. Perhaps yours are waiting for an Indian summer.

Oops! Thanks for pointing that out Emily, I made several revisions to this post and ending up publishing the wrong one, omitting the bit about the name which was my favourite bit! Have put it right now, so hope it answers your question! Theresa